The day of the Coyote Poacher

5/30/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) We have been putting on a lot of miles in the last few days so I decided to go back to a simple little 38 mile ride over the back side of McCall today. I even went to bed early and woke up before my alarm clock. I knew it was going to be clear and warm but I wasn’t sure how many would be joining me this morning. But I put my new wheels on my bike and got dressed for the ride after a quick breakfast and headed for Burger King. Coyote, Highlander, Dura Max and Centaur were already there when I pulled up. We sat and talked for w few minutes before Surgeon and Gambler arrived and Dura Max left early to ride with T-3. About 10 minutes later we headed down Gilmore and started our ride west.

We got out onto Acacia and rode over to Kirby where we caught the light. After it turned green we made the left and headed for Cypress. So far is was still cool and at least at this end of town there was little to no wind. We got to Cypress and turned west towards Johnston while chatting about how nice of a day it was. Highlander and Centaur pulled us to Johnston and Sanderson and I took us up to Wentworth and west again to the airport road. I would be in front all the way to Stetson.

Once we got past Warren Road Gambler pulled in front and pulled us all the way to California and then up to Stowe. Gambler seems to be getting stronger every ride and he started a run on Stowe that was very impressive. I couldn’t hang on all the way to Winchester and Coyote managed to pass at the last minute to get to the parking lot first. We stopped to regroup and hydrate before starting off down Winchester to 9th street.

Somehow I got out front again on Winchester and slowly got us up to speed as we moved to 9th. We turned west and I pulled us to Leon and headed for Briggs. The fields were green with whatever they are planting for a summer crop. The new wheels were rolling well and for some reason I still felt good as we rolled along at about 20 mph. we were not in a pace line but rather riding more in a clump even at that speed. Looking behind me it seems as if Surgeon might even have a smile on his face.

I gave up the lead to Centaur and Surgeon and fell back with Highlander and Gambler as we turned onto Briggs and started for the little housing tract before the high school. Coyote pulled past me and we all worked our way back out onto Briggs and north towards Florida. For a change we caught the light on Florida green and stayed together all the way to Mapes before turning west. Gambler took off and headed for Menifee and I gave chase but never caught him. I got the lead on Menifee and took us all the way to the AM/PM where stopped for a nature break and watched T-3 and Dura Max head off towards McCall. After a short break we were back heading south.

Surgeon and Centaur were out front again and we were covering ground pretty good as we crossed over the railroad tracks and closed in on McCall. As we rounded the corner and started for the hill Gambler started to pull away and Centaur went after him. Coyote began the climb and at first I tried to stay with him. But new wheels or not climbing with him seemed like more work than I wanted to put out today so I downshifted just as Highlander pulled up next to me. Surgeon had some mechanical problem and fell behind so Highlander and I waited at the top for him and we started down past the Hospital towards the freeway. I past the stop light, just before Menifee storage, to see Coyote sitting in the street with his back up against a pickup looking like he was resting.

Turns out the truck had made a left turn right in front of him just as he got to the driveway and he slammed into the passenger door. For me it brought back a bad memory from about 8 weeks ago and I could only hope he wasn’t hurt too bad. Because we had stopped at the top of McCall we were too far behind to see the accident and Centaur and Gambler were too far in front. Still we all got together and waited for the paramedics to come check him out and one of his neighbors stopped by to take his bike home for him. The left side drop bar and shifter looked like it took a hard hit and he had some cuts and scrapes but he was in good spirits as they put him in the ambulance and headed back towards the hospital we had just past.

Once he was on his way some of us talked to the Sherriff and got all the information he would give us. We decided to continue the ride but head directly to Jack in the Box to have some coffee and settle our nerves. It didn’t seem to take us as long to get to the coffee shop as normal and we were still pretty much all together till we got back to the freeway where I caught the light as the last guy in line and was a minute behind everyone getting there. There must have been some pent up energy as we got back on the road as we were moving at pace line speed within a block or two after leaving Antelope. We rolled past Menifee on a green and Gambler started to ramp things up. Three of us hit the hill pretty hard and Gambler and Centaur had to soft pedal till everyone was back in line and then the pace picked up again. 23 or 24 all the way to Winchester and then we were planning on cutting it back from Winchester to Sanderson. But Centaur got out in front and had us back to 23 all the way to the dry wash. We finally backed down just past Warren and Gambler left us at Sanderson. I stayed with the remaining group till we got to Johnston and headed for home myself.

A fast ride for a Wednesday and a sad day when you see a friend get hurt. But after calling him when I got home he seemed fine and I am sure he will recover rather quickly. At least he will get some good pain killers to last for a few days. I will be praying for his full recovery.

Beach ride 2012

5/28/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) After the ride we had on Saturday I was looking forward to a nice easy ride to the beach on SART today. Yorba Linda to Huntington is only about 26 miles and with a small trip to the pier the round trip is less than 60 miles. I was just a little disappointed when I thought that just three of us might be going to make the ride but by Sunday it looked like we would at least have 7 riders. Coyote and Nike were going to meet us at the Ice Castle and Von Richthofen and his son Levi were going to ride with me and Highlander would be bringing Tax man. Then I discovered that Marshall would be joining us making it 8 riders. At the last minute Highlander and a mechanical issue and we were down one rider and I had a car full with the addition of Tax Man. Then I got a call from Vortex and Surgeon saying they would meet us at the castle. By the time we were ready to leave the Ice Castle we were 9 strong.

We headed for the first river crossing and headed over to the south side of the river on the old bridge. What surprised me was how quickly we were moving west in a pace line almost from the start. I pulled for a long time before Vortex took over and pulled us all the way to the park across from the Honda Center. We all took a bit of a break there and hydrated a bit before heading off again to cross over to the north side of the river bed and down past the Big A.

We took turns at the front of the pace line and moved down to the Golf Course and finally got down to the bridge crossing back over to the south side of the river bed again. Coyote, Surgeon and finally Levi took turns pulling us west all the way to the soccer field and the little park and short climb before Vortex moved forward and took the lead again. I asked him to hold the pace down so I could get ahead of the group to catch them crossing the last bridge over to the north side before we got t the beach.

Once we made the last turn north we rode out onto the board walk and slowly cruised towards the pier. The problem with riding down on the boardwalk is we have to be very careful because people aren’t paying much attention to where they are going and they can step right out in front of you. And that is just what happened when a little kid jumped in front of me and almost caused a pileup when I had to grab the brakes. But we survived and headed out onto PCH for lunch in the Plaza next to the Subway. After lunch we started back to the SART and I got a call from Highlander indicating he had his bike fixed and would meet us at the Honda Center. Coyote had us moving at a pretty good clip heading back towards the Honda Center as we caught and passed several groups. He said he was just trying to work off our lunches but we did get a chance to see some interesting bikes and trikes heading back.

I pulled for a short distance before giving up the lead to Surgeon and falling to the back of the line. I had no idea how fast Highlander might be closing in on the Honda Center so I told everyone to keep an eye out for him. I fell back again and Vortex, Levi and Nike rolled along and finally crossed back over the river and got us headed closer to the golf course and then the Big A again.

We were back on the north side of the river again and rolling along at about 20 mph and coming up fast on the Big A when we spotted Highlander heading almost as fast going west and passing us in the other direction. We shouted at him but I wasn’t sure he was going to stop and come back to ride with us. Coyote, Tax Man and I waited to see if he would return while the rest of the group headed on to the park. Finally Highlander turn around and we all got together to regroup at the park.

Highlander decided he needed more miles and Tax Man was feeling pretty strong so they headed back towards the beach while Coyote started back towards the parking lot. By the time the rest of the group was rolling Coyote was a long way ahead of us and I started the chase t see if we could close on him. We didn’t catch him till we were almost back to the 91 freeway underpass. But the time I was on his back wheel I was pretty much spent and Vortex, Surgeon and Levi past me and followed him back to the last bridge. From there on it was a quick ride back to the parking lot and the cars. Four of us stopped at the little restaurant for a cold drink before heading home and the prospect of a hot shower. It ended up being a fast cool 58 mile ride and a good day for it.

5/26/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) About once a year Huntress assumes the role of ride leader and takes us on one of our out of town rides. Saturday was just such a day and Huntress was to lead us from Oceanside to San Diego and back. I for one was looking forward to it. I got to Starbucks and met up with Huntress and Shadow and the three of us headed for Oceanside. It only took us about an hour and we were at the Park on College to meet up with the rest of the group for the Beach ride. Once we got to the Coyote and his friend from Cast a Shadow Adam, and Pam (Nike) were waiting for us to unload and start the ride. After a short mix up at the start we headed down the bike trail towards Oceanside. I pulled till we got towards the end of the trail where Huntress took over and headed us south.

The day started out maybe just a bit cool but Huntress did a fine job of moving us through Oceanside with a minimum of problems and we started off with an easy pace the we would end up holding for most of the ride. While we didn’t start off right on the beach we were at least on the same route as a great number of other cyclists. I do not remember seeing this many cyclist last time Huntress and Coyote assured me this was light compared to what we would see if we had tried this ride on Monday, Memorial Day.

To be honest the great scenery is only one of the reasons we like this ride so much. Even on a relatively cool morning there is something about the smell of the ocean breeze and the sound of the waves crashing against the beach to let you know we are lucky or even blessed to live in Southern California and to have the bicycle culture that we have. Looking at my fellow riders I could see they were enjoying the ride as much as I happened to be. We moved towards Encinitas and got ready to drop down to the highway right next to the ocean. The ocean was beautiful and the waves were pure white with foam as we looked west and rode south looking for our first SAG stop where John would supply us with Bananas, fluids and sandwiches.

Once we met up with John and refueled and got ready to attack the rollers from Encinitas to Solana Beach. The great thing about rollers is once you get into a rhythm they seem to eat up the miles in short order. But this point Adam and Coyote we spending a lot of time in the front followed by Huntress and Nike every now and then. We rode past another long stretch of beach and started up a few more rollers till we got close to Del Mar. After a short little climb Huntress pulled up next to me at a stop light, one we didn’t run unlike so many groups in front of us did, and asked if I was ready for the Climb? I told her I was ready and knew the only thing between us and Torry Pines was a little downhill and then the climb.

I took off and hit the hill pretty hard only to discover my legs were not happy with me for riding in the wind on Friday. I got past by Adam and then Shadow blew by me giving chase. We all made the climb and regrouped at the top of the Torry Pines hill.

Once we were back on our way Huntress took us past the University and down Torry Pines to a gas station and Starbucks were we met John and the SAG wagon again. Once again we hydrated and had some bananas and PBJ sandwiches. I have discovered the need to hydrate and do a pretty good job of it but often on a long ride it is way too easy to forget to eat and then you can bonk. We took off again and Huntress took us down to La Jolla cove and back out onto the main highway towards Garnet before turning back for the run home.

Other than a flat right in front of the Bush Beer warehouse and distribution center we made the turn for home without many problems. About the only complaint I had was that the cracked pavement had hammered my right hand long enough that it started to cramp. Still it wasn’t bad and soon we were back in La Jolla and heading from the down side of the hill. We dropped down the hill and ran hard for Encinitas. We had a way to go before our last SAG stop and I for one was looking forward to it. Still Adam looked almost as fresh as he did at the start of the ride.

Once we were back on our way Coyote and Adam spent a lot of time pulling us back towards Oceanside. About a mile or two before we got back to the bike trail we had to stop again because my hand started to cramp. Lucky for me Huntress always has a bag full of Motrin and I downed some and two Electrolyte tabs before we started out again.

Something about the bike trail seemed to energize me and we held a steady pace all the way back to the parking lot and cars. Huntress brought Shadow and I some chocolate milk and diet Coke and collected her gear before heading home with John. It only took us about an hour got get home where I dropped Shadow off at his house and went home myself to a big bowl of Chili and a hot shower. Huntress did a great job of putting together a great ride.

Everyone knows it's windy

5/25/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) We had a big weekend planned but I didn’t want to skimp on the rest of the group for the Friday ride so I put in a bit more distance for a Friday. I was a bit worried about the wind today but I knew we could change the ride if it was too bad so off I went with high hopes and both arm and leg warmers. I got there first and for a while I was worried I would be alone. But by 8:30 Highlander, Dura Max, Ocelot, Torpedo and Barracuda were ready to ride with me. We started out slowly down Gilmore to acacia.

Knowing I had a big ride coming up Saturday and another longer Ride Monday I simply wanted to pace myself and keep from getting too tired for the 40 mile round trip I had planned. Everyone seemed content with the reduced pace as we moved west on Acacia to Kirby and they were pushing me from Kirby to Cypress. As we moved west through the housing tract it was clear we would be join by the wind. It didn’t seem too bad on Cypress and was still pretty light as we neared Johnston.

I still had the lead as we turned left onto Sanderson and started towards Domenigoni after passing Stetson. I ended up taking all the way to Domenigoni and made the turn towards Warren. After about a half of a mile I gave up the lead when I noticed the wind was having an effect on some of our riders. We cut the pace down a bit till everyone was back in line and Torpedo decided to drop the hammer right into the teeth of the wind. Barracuda and Highlander pulled ahead as well and I stayed with Ocelot and Dura Max all the way to the saddle. I assured Ocelot that once we made the turn onto Lindenburger things would be better.

We started down the saddle and made our way to Lindenburger. True to my word the ride north to McCall was a lot easier. Our pace picked up on Lindenburger and rolled up onto Simpson almost effortlessly. We crossed the street and turned onto Heritage and it was almost as easy as we moved to McCall and then to Menifee. I was back in front as we started towards the AM/Pm on Florida.

After a short break we started north on Menifee and slowly picked up the pace again and by Mapes we were cruising along at about 20 mph without breathing hard. I had high hopes that we wouldn’t be fighting the wind anymore today. Barracuda lead us most of the way to Nuevo and I took over after the turn to Lakeview and heading towards the gas station on Lakeview and Ramona Expressway. I was not impressed as I got close to the elementary school and noticed the flag was not blowing east. To me that meant it was quite possible the wind wouldn’t be with us on the run back to Sanderson once we got back out on Ramona.

I got a chance to see for myself as we pulled out on to Ramona and I got the lead again. It felt like a slight push to me so I pushed it up a bit and pulled hard towards the Dairy farms. I looked back and noticed the pace line was breaking up. I fell off of the front and Barracuda took over as I fell back to help pull the group back together. It didn’t work but Highlander and Barracuda were waiting for us at Warren so we regrouped. Dura Max and Ocelot weren’t going to follow us back to Burger King so I picked it up a bit and dragged us to Sanderson at times staying in the drops just to get out of the wind. I got us to Ramona road and heading towards Lyon. Barracuda was way out in front of Highlander and me but he waited for us at Cottonwood. We rode back to Latham together and finished at Burger King.

Barracuda and I followed Highlander back to his van where we talked for a few minutes before each of us headed for home. I worked my way over to Lyon again and down to Johnston before heading for home. I wanted the few extra blocks to give me an even 40 miles for the day and that is just what I got. I can’t say the wind is my friend but today we managed to hold our own against it and I still felt pretty good after fighting it most of the day.

5/23/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It looked like it might be a good day for a ride today. Not too hot and not too windy at least first thing in the morning. I hadn’t planned for a hard ride knowing we had two long rides coming up this weekend so all I wanted was some nice distance. I had some breakfast, got dressed and headed for Burger King to see who would show up. However there was a slight wind blowing from the west as I started out. As I pulled up into the parking lot Dura Max was talking to Coyote and Blood Hound. I didn’t know if Dura Max was going to ride with us or not and it looked like it might be a small group. Huntress and Gambler showed up just as Dura Max took off for Starbucks. We pulled out onto Latham a few minutes later and headed to Lyon to go south towards Johnston.

Blood Hound took the lead and pulled us to Thornton and east to State Street. We didn’t feel much wind at this point and the weather was just about perfect. I got out in front just before we got to State and started the run to Domenigoni. Everyone seemed relaxed and eager to get out on the long stretch west and we were looking forward to having Gambler pull most of the way. I don’t know if that was what he had in mind but he was the strongest rider we had today.

Once headed west Gambler had us moving at an easy 20 MPH and kept us there all the way back to Sanderson. Not long after than Blood Hound took over and pulled us to Warren where I got the lead and pulled us over the dry wash and surrendered the lead to Huntress who got us about halfway to Winchester till she fell off of the front because her tire was going flat. I stopped with her and watched her change the tire before we rode up to where the rest of the group was waiting. We all stayed together most of the way to Leon where Gambler started to pick up the pace. It was quite a push to the top of the saddle where we regrouped.

We headed down the hill and past Lindenburger and just as a big truck past up I saw Gambler drafting it as he shot by like a flash. He was well in front of us as we made the left into the housing tract and started to work out way over to Briggs. It sort of reminds you of an old country road as you turn south on Briggs and ride past the chicken ranch and the Dairy. At least this time of year we aren’t swarmed by flies and it isn’t too hot.

We got up to Garboni and turned west again and still the wind was in out face. It wasn’t hurting our speed much however and Blood Hound and Huntress took us to Antelope and back north to Newport. The plan was to head back east on Newport and cut over on Lindenburger to Simpson and then to Chris’s. However Coyote left for home on Antelope. When we got to Lindenburger Huntress, Gambler and Blood Hound had to stay on Domenigoni to get back early so I headed to Chris’s alone to see if Dura Max was there. He wasn’t so I got a quick cold drink and then headed for home. I got back to the house with about 38 miles on the computer and a pretty reasonable average speed. And no the wind never decided to hit me in the back no matter what direction I was going in.

5/21/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) This was a strange day for me. I had to make it short because I had to drive to Fullerton for a memorial service for my Aunt. But the weather was perfect and I felt good when I left the house. When I got to the parking lot only Blood Hound and Dura Max were waiting for me. Shortly after that however Surgeon and Coyote arrived followed closely by Highlander and Tax Man. Dura Max wasn’t riding with us today so he left early and it was down to just six of us. We headed out onto Latham and then north on Lyon towards Ramona.

I paced us most of the way to Ramona and Blood Hound took over and pulled us to State. I thought we were doing pretty well at 19 to 20 mph but the Kid just pushed us higher as we covered the distance to State and then back north again. Tax man took the lead briefly but Blood Hound pulled back in front to the Expressway where they let me back in front and I pulled till we got to Soboba and turned east.

The Soboba run is almost always interesting and today wasn’t all that different. We took a brief break for Blood Hound before Surgeon lead us out towards the first roller. What was a bit of a surprise was that Highlander made the first move and pulled I front to take us over the second roller and towards the golf course. He kicked us up fast enough to drop Tax Man off the back but Coyote and I dropped back and pulled him back up to the fleeing Highlander and Surgeon. Blood Hound was too far ahead and was waiting for us at the trees after the short hill by the golf course.

Highlander and Tax Man had some time constraints so the left before the rest of us and started towards the bridge over the dry river bed. We waited for about 5 extra minutes before we took off after them but we didn’t think we were going to catch them. All that was left after we got to Washington was Blood Hound, Coyote, Surgeon and me. We tried to hustle our way down to Cedar and then over to Florida but we never saw Highlander and Tax Man. We pulled out onto Florida and made our way to the Ranger Station for a short break. We did see Dura Max coming back down from the Station on our way up.

It was getting pretty warm so we headed back down Florida towards Carl’s for something cool to drink and to make the ride home. The whole group took turns pulling back to Fairview and then to Carl’s where Coyote had to leave us and head back to his car. Blood Hound, Surgeon and I took a short break and then headed for home ourselves. Blood Hound left us on Columbia and Park and I stayed with Surgeon till we got all the way back to Palm where I headed for home. It was a short quick ride but sill I got in 30+ miles and a good ride.

5/18/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I always leave the option for an easy ride open for Fridays. I sometimes don’t know why I bother because normally people seem excessively frisky on Fridays and I truthfully didn’t hold out much hope for a slow simple ride today. My only hope was that only Coyote and Dura Max were there when I got to the parking lot and no one else showed up for the longest time. Just before 8:30am Dura Max left us to go on a different ride and as he left Barracuda, Gambler and D’Artagnon rode up. Last but not least Surgeon unloaded his car and we were almost ready to go. After playing around with D’Artagnon’s new Garmin we headed down Gilmore and across Acacia to Kirby before heading up to Cypress and west.

We were still rolling along at a good pace as we headed west on Cypress and pretty quickly made it to Johnston and the light on Sanderson. Like normally we managed to catch the light red and had to wait till it turned green before I could start the pull that would lead us past Stetson and Wally World to Domenigoni. Before I got to Mustang I looked behind me to see some pretty eager riders following me.

I stayed in front till we got to Domenigoni and started us west again. After about maybe a quarter of a mile I gave up the lead to Surgeon and fell to the back. Soon Barracuda had the lead and we were smoothly rolling along past Warren and over the dry wash. We had a rock steady 20 MPH run most of the way to Winchester before Surgeon flatted. Once that was fixed we started out again only this time we had picked up Bandit. True to form he kicked up the pace all the way to the bottom of the saddle and we strung out crossing the saddle and heading down the other side. We didn’t regroup till the light at Antelope and then ran hard to Murrieta without stopping. Our next stop was at the park on LaLadera.

We started off north to ride up towards Honneyrun and the Owl sanctuary. Bandit was still pretty fresh and we began thinking about the little climb on Hospital hill. One drawback to having Strava was that we knew where to times segments were on most of our rides and while some of us aren’t even close to challenging the best times.

So we decided to start plotting a way to bump one of our riders to the top of the leader board. With Gambler, D’Artagnon and Barracuda to start a lead out maybe we could get Bandit who was second up to first at least for a short time. I listen to Gambler as he started to plot our next move and we all headed closer to McCall.

We finally headed east on McCall and held the pace down as we made our way to Bradley. We knew once we made it over the freeway and through the light the run was on. Coyote and I started out first but that was because we were well ahead of the rest of the group. By the next light the lead out group caught us and started to pull away. Coyote and I caught the light and Surgeon past us so we fell in on his back wheel. Finally I decided to pick it up a bit but decided to save something in case the big dogs dropped the hammer on the way to Simpson and then to Winchester. I didn’t have to worry because Coyote left us to visit a friend and Bandit headed for home. We continued on to Simpson and then to Winchester before stopping at Chris’s for coffee. After a brief stop we headed back up Winchester and turned onto Stowe so we could work our way over to California.

My legs were a bit tight till we turned onto Stowe but I started feel better as we moved closer to California. We dropped down to Stetson and started a quick run to Warren. I looked down and noticed my average speed was still in excess of 17 MPH and this was supposed to be an easy day. I past the airport road with the group and then Gambler, D’Artagnon and I headed straight to Sanderson where I planned to drop down to Johnston and head for home.

I was still hitting on all cylinders as I rounded the corner on Johnston and headed east. I was holding a steady 18 as I passed Kirby and don’t slow much till I got to Elk and finally I started to slow down at Palm before turning down my street and home. I got there with 37 miles on the computer. Not an easy ride but a good one none the less.

Half Century

5/16/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was supposed to be a warm and windless day and there was a request for a longer ride to help us get ready for the long Saturday ride before Memorial Day. So I posted a half century and waited to see how many would show up. I got to Burger King and Coyote was talking to Highlander, Dura Max and Ocelot. By the time Huntress arrived it was clear there would be a small group for today’s ride. Dura Max and Ocelot took a different route and only 4 of us started at 8:30.

My plan was to modify the ride a bit and take the outside route down Domenigoni and come back on the inside so we could stop by Chris’s for coffee or something cold to drink. With the predicted temperatures I was sure I would need something cold to drink by the time we got back. So we rode down Gilmore over to Kirby and up to Cypress at an easy cruise. When we got to Sanderson we changed to a left to head to Domenigoni and scooted past Stetson and Wally World.

Once on Domenigoni I pulled for about a quarter of a mile before giving it over to Highlander. He kept the pace going and pulled quite a while himself before giving it over to Huntress. Huntress picked it up a notch and took us past Warren and over the dry wash. When she pulled off we got Coyote who kept the pace going and took us all the way to Winchester. I took it briefly but Highlander decided to take it and move us closer to Leon and then let Coyote have it again. I ended up second at the saddle and got a chance to jump when Coyote downshifted. He didn’t give up however and pushed me to the top. A brief regroup and we were on our way again.

A drop down the back side of the saddle and a turn onto Lindenburger and we were heading north to McCall. Coyote didn’t let us rest much as we worked our way down Heritage to McCall and Huntress helped him push us to Menifee and north again to the AM/PM. We got to the Am/PM just as Dura Max, Ocelot and T-3 were ready to leave. We followed them to Mapes and then got in front and headed for Nuevo. I pulled most of the way to Evans and Huntress pulled most of the way to Ramona. I got back in front and started us towards the hill and Lakeview.

Coyote took the hill first and Highlander got to the top second. Huntress and I followed but caught up on the downhill. By the time we got back to the back road to Lake Paris we were in a pace line and quickly heading for Lakeview. We stopped briefly at the Valero and then headed to Nuevo and over to Central. I pulled back to Mapes and was pretty cooked as we headed over to Briggs.

I caught back up on Briggs and closed on the group at Florida and we rode together back to the dump road and headed towards Winchester. We took a break for coffee or something cold to drink at Chris’s and talked about what a good ride it had been up to this point. So far we had gone just over 40 miles at about 17.5 MPH. Not bad for a half century that we were planning on cruising. We decided to head back on Winchester to Stowe and I got dropped first thing. Still they all waited for me at Stowe and we took off for California as a group. There were no dogs today and we turned on California to drop down to Stetson.

Once on Stetson Highlander and Coyote took the point and lead us back to Warren without dropping any speed. We continued on towards the airport road and I left the group and headed for home as they made the turn. I cut over to Johnston and headed for home. I got there with 54 miles on the clock and a bit more tan than I had last week. Not bad for a half century.